Ronnie Milsap, Mavis Staples And More To Be Inducted Into The Memphis Music Hall Of Fame

Milsap

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME member RONNIE MILSAP will be among those inducted into the 2022 Class of THE MEMPHIS MUSIC HALL OF FAME. MILSAP joins fellow 2022 inductees PRISCILLA PRESLEY, MAVIS STAPLES, BOOKER T. JONES (BOOKER T & THE MGs), BILLY LEE RILEY, producer/engineer JIM GAINES, guitarist FRED FORD and J.M. VAN EATON. The addition of these musicians will bring the HALL OF FAME's total to 90 members, including past honorees TINA TURNER, ARETHA FRANKLIN, B.B. KING and more.

MILSAP spent time in the MEMPHIS music scene starting in the '60s, and his first exposure as a musician can be credited to ELVIS PRESLEY, as MILSAP played the keyboard on PRESLEY's hit, "Don't Cry Daddy." He also charted with ASHFORD & SIMPSON's "Never Had It So Good." During his time in MEMPHIS, he also did studio work for CHIPS MOMAN and played gigs at MEMPHIS nightclub TJ's.

“Those years in MEMPHIS were magical,” said MILSAP. “There was music in the air. Everywhere you went, you could feel the rhythms, the Rock & Roll, the Rhythm & Blues – and the idea that there was something happening that started with SUN RECORDS, with JOHNNY CASH, JERRY LEE LEWIS, CARL PERKINS and especially ELVIS. We were all carrying that energy with us. It was electric, and it was alive."

“ELVIS has a real sense about him,” he continued. “When we were in there at AMERICAN SOUND, he kept saying, ‘More thunder on the keys, MILSAP! More thunder!’ Nobody wants to be the one who overwhelms a track, but he was so clear about what he heard. All I wanted to do was give it to him – and CHIPS – because you knew this song was something really special.”

“When you look at the history, this year’s inductees represent so many facets of what makes MEMPHIS music so mighty, it’s an honor to be included,” added MILSAP. “So many of them make music I listen to today, and PRISCILLA PRESLEY has carried ELVIS’ legacy forward with such style, it reminds you what was created there will endure and shape music long after we’re gone. To be seen as part of that humbles me.”

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